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Monday, June 28, 2010

Huh...here I am sitting listening to the news and they are talking about an earthquake that hit here this morning. What? Earthquake? Where? When? What time? I didn't feel anything! Then they say it was 3.3. Are you serious?! Me dropping the shampoo bottle is the equivalent of a 3.3 earthquake...no wonder I didn't feel it! I can't believe they think this is news! 5 or higher and that's something to write home about. 6 or higher and ok...you better be in a safe place...that's really strong. When you've lived in earthquake country your whole life, a 3.3 is nothing.

Anyways, that wasn't what I came here to blab about. Monday was a blur. It's almost bedtime and I did enjoyable things but not the one thing I really wanted to do...stitch! Work was crazy busy but I guess that's good because the days go by fast and I don't have the time to think about...stuff. I ran my errands, went for a walk, had the single girl dinner of guac and chips with a pluot dessert and did some crochet homework and I think I've mastered the single crochet stitch. I would like to master even tension but I guess we can't have everything! I won't feel like a bad student in class tomorrow. Whew!

The weekend was nice. I realize that I was supposed to write yesterday and I had all these intentions to post photos of the bike race that takes over my neighborhood each year but NONE of my pictures came out plus each time I walked down to the race, it was when things weren't really happening...like finishing one age group and not quite starting the other or right at the end when the cyclists just weren't at the top of their game. Oh well. It was fun to see. I kept going to the race because it was just too hot to stand around for long periods of time. If I did, I'd turn red and probably sport another 50 freckles! I still don't understand how I turned out being the palest, nicaraguan girl with freckles on the face of the earth.

The rest of the weekend consisted of girlie pampering things and a fun dinner at one of my favorite places in the city...NOPA. Have you ever been at a place where you feel like you come alive? I have this thing about certain restaurants in the city. The crowd + the vibe + the food + the service + fun waiter + chatter with adjacent tables + company. All that comes into play and NOPA never disappoints. It's all so perfect and I am just glowing with happiness. Claire and I have this thing where we go and split a starter, entree, side and dessert and it's perfect for the two of us. We are both low-key and we always want the pork chop. Mmmm....pork! We get coffee with dessert and I get my favorite cocktail (sometimes multiple times!) which isn't even on their menu anymore but they never complain when I ask for it. We know the server because he *always* serves us and he is the nicest guy...and funny. There's great art and if you sit upstairs (where we always do), it's the most primo spot for people watching. I *heart* NOPA! If you ever go...get the pork chop! It never disappoints and is huge! This is a foodie spot and makes my inner glutton super happy! It is so worth eating salad all week to splurge on your diet here. *sigh* I wish I could live there...or date the chef! That would totally mess with my diet though! lol

I've got a Letter C update! I think this is the project that will not die! Er, umm...I mean not end! Yea that's it. The project that will not end! I've been stitching on it forever and I don't think Letter G took this long (I totally wish I can get Letter G back! But lets not go there). But I am getting closer? What do you think? A little more fill-in, finish up wings, stitch the skin and then backstitching and beading. My new deadline is the end of the upcoming weekend. Not sure about that though seeing as I have plans every single night and day through the long weekend with the exception of Thursday night. Busy, busy!See...I'm getting there! I'm sorry if you're bored with my one project updates. Shoot...I'm kinda bored too! I'm almost done though...it'll get better! lol

Oh and a quick snap of my Trader Joe flower finds...I love these pretty tulips!Hope you all have a great weekend!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Thanks for all the encouraging comments on my last post. Last week sucked! This week was much better. I didn't really put myself in a position to be flaked upon and kept things very low-key.

On Monday, I tried out a new workout class through the rec department which employees described like Bar Method. I love Bar Method and it's an intense workout but it's a little out of budget for me. So I signed up for this cheaper class and was kind of disappointed. It was 1/2 modern dance and 1/2 bar method. I don't really like dance classes per se because you have a bunch of dancers who know what they're doing and then there's me going...what are they doing and how do I do that?! Yea...unless it's tap or swing, I'm pretty lost in the dance department. So the modern dance portion was lost on me but the bar method portion was much more my speed. I pondered whether I would keep with the class but the next two days brought about reminders of muscles I forgot I had because I haven't used them in uh....months! So it was definitely a good workout! I'll try it this week and see how I feel.

On Tuesday, I had my crochet class. I felt really bad that I hadn't done any of my "homework" since any focused minute I had went towards Letter C. So, I brought it with me to class and the ladies dutifully oohhhed and aaahhhed over it and I felt much better and motivated about it. They even said I had to bring it to the next class...and was reminded I had to crochet too! Ack! Letter C has gotten some attention...the crochet however....not so much!

The rest of the week was a blur of laziness, self-pampering and stitching. No plans...no expectations. Too much time on my hands and I go a little batty. But what has helped immensely is making plans for the Fall. Looks like I will be jetsetting! Woo! It won't be on the scale as travelling to London, Rome and Greece but I'll take what I can! In September, I'll be heading to the Shepherd's Bush Retreat. I am so excited! So far, everything is booked except for a rental car. I'm considering this my birthday gift to myself for the entire decade seeing as it's a tad pricey but my birthday is the Friday following retreat. I know a couple of other bloggers such at Katrina and Terri are going and I am really grateful Katrina is kind of taking me under her wing since I was initially supposed to go with Mr. Ex but am now (obviously) going solo and am kind of nervous about it. Thanks Katrina for making me feel better about it! Is anyone else going to the retreat?

I was talking to my sister (hi Karen!) about this too. Moaning about driving around UT on my own and not knowing a single thing about the state other than a lot of Mormons live there. She reassured me about it and said it would be exciting and fun...a little adventure! And then she asked me what happened to the girl who picked up and traveled to Paris alone and spent nine days traipsing about. Yea...what happened to that girl?! Oh, yea...that was me. Shoot, talk about a lifetime ago! After a different terrible breakup, I called the airline and asked what would be cheaper...Paris, Rio or Rome. Paris was the cheapest, I booked a ticket and three weeks later...I was on a plane. My mother about had a heart attack. It was a good trip! Mind you, when I got there...I was pretty much in shock myself and had to take a nap because I was very much in a "what the hell am I doing in Paris...I don't know anyone here!?" frame of mind. But the nap helped and I walked and explored and visited every museum, famous monument/church/opera house and met a couple of other tourists along the way. I do have to share that Paris probably wasn't the best choice post-breakup seeing as it's called "the city of love" and there were way too many couples I wanted to smack in the head but it was fun all the same. I mean, where else can you see Operation Petticoat and The Rocky Horror Picture Show performed in French plus acquire dark noir renditions of a slutty Tinkerbell-type that have thus been labeled as "pixie porn" from friends and apartment manager alike. Yea, Paris was interesting and fun! I need to find my adventurous streak again. I've become too "I'll wait for when I have someone to go with" but in all reality, I don't have a very good track record with relationships so I may as well go and have fun on my own and be open to new things.

So on that note, I am also going to New York in the Fall too. Ticket booked, oh so excited! A friend of mine moved to NY last year and has been reminding me that she has a sofa bed I can crash on whenever I want and I've waited long enough to travel to NY. Things have always come up, plans have always gotten canceled...the one place I've wanted to visit forever. Really...what am I waiting for now? New York...here I come! I can't wait!

Said friend is getting married in Dallas and it looks like the wedding is happening a lot earlier than I thought which means that will be my third trip this year. That's a good thing seeing as my sister lives there and I can visit with her and her family and spend some time with them as well. I was hoping to meet some DFW stitchy bloggers but the trip will coincide with holidays and I think that might be hard to coordinate this time around.

I hope you all don't mind my rambling. I figure I may have more retrospective posts in light of my new single status. Hopefully, I won't lose readers because it's more talk and less stitching! Tomorrow, I'll be back with stitchy pictures and more weekend stuff! :)

Monday, June 21, 2010

So the last week wasn't a great one...it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't all that great either.

It started off with the car battery which resolved itself fine but made me really wish I was dating some really hot mechanic that could save me and my jalopy car. It's hard to be in a position of always having to take care of everyone else and then when you need help, you're at the mercy of AAA. Which...you know, I pay for and are therefore obligated to come and save me. At least the AAA guy this time around was super nice.

Crochet class was nice and I could actually crochet but my gauge is curling. I still crochet too tight! And is it just me but does crochet seem harder than knitting?!

On Thursday, my tub got royally clogged! How does that happen? One day, it's working perfect and the next day, you're standing in 6 inches of standing water. Ergh! Despite calling the apartment manager and leaving him a note, it still took four days to fix which of course, led to more frustration. It would drain....very, very sloooowly. Like hours. The apartment manager came down yesterday to return a movie I lent him and I, of course, unleash on him. Where have you been?! Clogged tub, clogged tub! Apparently, he completely forgot I called him and he confused my note with a sink clog incident while the now ex was staying here. *sigh* He unclogged the tub which brought forth a clump of boy hair. For once...it wasn't me causing havoc on the pipes!

The rest of the week/weekend brought forth a lot of flakiness from others and cancelled plans which led to a lot of thinking since I had extra time on my hands. Not happy thinking either. Stuff like "why are people so flaky and is that an original SF thing or an SF thing brought on by all the "transplants" now living here?" And "how in the world did I end up in this big mess...broken up, alone and trying to build up a social life from practically scratch"? And "will I find someone else who will accept me, my craft obsession, my un-sexy undies, sarcastic humor and me being the occasional cranky-pants"...because I doubt it. And it's hard to hear people tell you it's ok to be alone when they are all married and in the throes of a seemingly happy relationship. So...I'm far from happy.

Then there are the discoveries...like boy hair clog, and boy taking the last of something and hiding it, and boy washing the dishes so poorly and putting them away that I then have to rewash them...which requires soaking because the grunge is stuck on (eww!) and still being pissed off that boy bent my car visor which requires it to stay down otherwise it will hit me in the head if I try to put it up because it won't stay up.

I apparently have too much time on my hands if I am thinking this much. I was a thinking, sad mess all weekend. It's probably just as well that almost everyone cancelled on me since I was so tired and unmotivated and sad and pathetic. I almost cancelled on the one person who kept our plans and I'm glad I didn't. We had a nice dinner and went to watch Sex in the City 2. It was a lot funnier than I thought it would be! The outfits were kind of atrocious but supposedly, that's called "fashion" or something. The heck?! Although, I have to say, if I pick anyone's outfits, it would be Charlotte...but in the end, I'm a jeans and hoodie girl. I suppose I should start dressing my age...but there's plenty of time to think about that some more. Overall, fun movie.

Stitching again was scarce because for every 10 minutes of stitching, I did like 90 minutes of thinking. There is no way I am going to make my end of month goal now. Here is how Letter C stands. I think all that Blueberry Tart and Lettuce Leaf slowed me down. I'm not big into pastels and so...you know...it got kind of boring.I've done a little more than what the photo shows now and have moved onto a new color...Deep Fennel. I'm digging it a little more now. Still...a terrible photo!

So that's the update on me and my little corner. I am trying to figure out a new routine and it's hard! The goal this week will be to get a couple of workouts in and see if I can stick with it for more than two weeks. So that I can lose a couple of pounds and fit comfortably in my old pants...and some new ones I want to buy. Don't you hate being in between sizes?! Ergh...story of my life.

Monday, June 14, 2010

I was so looking forward to leaving work at 5pm and tackling everything I needed to get done at home like putting away the laundry, washing dishes, working on Letter C and working on my chain stitch for crochet. Yea, I know...nothing exciting. But the minute I got in the car and turned the key, I got nothing. And all I could think was that I hope that the car wouldn't cost another $800+ to fix. So I went and bugged my favorite guy co-worker during his workout and told him that the car wouldn't turn on and he suggested that I probably had a dead battery. Ah, I can deal with that...and thinking about it...the battery was a good 5-7 years old. I called AAA for a jump and after their 60 minute estimate, a gal at work said she had cables so we all went out to jump the car. How come my dad never taught me to jumpstart a car? Or change a tire? So the car started up, I called AAA to cancel the call and headed on my way to see how to get someone to change the battery so late in the day! But as I exited the parking lot, I saw the AAA guy and told him I had called and got the car started and I thought I had a dying battery. He said he could do a diagnostic on the battery and so I pulled over and let him do it. I'm glad I did. The AAA guy was really nice and helpful; he verified I basically had a dead battery and when I asked where I could get a battery installed so late, he said that he had new batteries in his truck and could install it right there...for a fee of course. But talk about convenient! And frankly, the battery and install cost me the same now as it did 5-7 years ago so it's not like they charge more than any shop. So the car has a new battery, I am not worried about being stranded out in the middle of nowhere and I'm convinced that my AAA membership is the best $85 I spent in any year...you know...other than stash.

But this little hiccup meant that I got home much later than I thought and there is still laundry to put away and dishes to wash and more gift to stitch and more chain stitch practicing to do. I don't think much will happen tonight now.

There's not much going on with me. I've been feeling pretty low the last few days and I find that if I keep myself busy, I don't have much time to think about "stuff". The anger and sadness is there and it will be there for a while. But at least I get myself out of the house and do the things that need to be done and connect with people even if a lot of the time, I just want to be hiding under the covers.

I signed up for a crochet class and I find that I chain stitch even tighter than I knit. This is slightly problematic!! At least with knitting you can go up a needle size to get the right gauge...apparently, that isn't possible with crochet! I need to practice making looser chaining (?) so I can actually make stitches within the loops! I've gone out to dinners with friends and even tried a new to me restaurant, Destino. They had great tapas and sangria. I think my only complaint is that the tables are pretty close together. It made eavesdropping on the couple seated next to us very easy! They appeared to be on their first date and he seemed very shy, nervous and go with the flow and she seemed very bossy! Good luck guy...I'd run if I were you!

The weekend led itself to doing a lot of the responsible things I had to do like housesitting and laundry. Yesterday was my super social day in which I went to Farmers Market, got a massage (to work out some of the stress knots from the past 6 months), went to my nearby "Art in the Park" with a coworker and then got together with new friends to see a movie (Killers). It was nice to finally be in a movie theater...but if you had any interest in seeing this movie, I'd wait until dvd. Overall...it was a nice weekend.

Now for some stitchy stuff. I don't have much since now I am trying to keep myself busy outside of the house. Here is Letter C so far. I'm not sure I can make my end of the month goal! All that pale blue background took me forever! Ugh...glad to move into the design portion...then backstitching...then beading. Can I do it?! I don't know....And here is my progress pic in the TUSAL. I didn't post last month because, well...you know...plus I didn't even do any stitching. You can see all the pale blue on the top is from Letter C...1.40 skeins of Blueberry Tart orts!I took this at an artistic angle because I love that humongous peony in the background from my Trader Joe's flower shop!

I owe a few people email...omg...I had caught up and now I'm behind again! I haven't forgotten. I just haven't been too talkative in front of the computer the past few days. I'll reply soon...

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Tell us about something that you have stitched or plan to stitch for any father in your life. Maybe it’s for your father, your father-in-law, your children’s father, your grandfather, your godfather, or someone who was or still is an important father-figure in your life. Why did you choose this particular piece of stitching? Tell us the story behind it.

And because a simple one part question is never adequate, let’s go some more:

Often times we identify our love of needlework and our skills with our mothers or grandmothers or other women. It’s understandable because often they were are first teachers or role models. Now let’s think about our stitching life as it relates to our dads. Is there anything about our approach to stitching that we can recognize as traits of our fathers? For instance, does your dad (or any other important man in your life) have an approach to one of his interests that you can observe and think, “Hey….if I substitute the word “needlework” for “fly fishing”, we’d be pretty darn similar!” So tell us about it.

I haven't stitched anything for my dad. Mainly because I know he wouldn't really appreciate it. Even a couple of months ago, I brought over a project to show my mom, which happened to be my sister's 50th birthday present, and he goes "Are you still wasting your time doing that? You should be :::insert whatever he said because I tuned him out at that point::: At one time, I considered doing Love You Dad by Bent Creek. I had done Love you, Mom and this would be the companion piece but there's that tie...and my dad only wears a tie for baptisms, graduations, weddings and funerals because he spent his life being a factory worker. So I scratched that. He's much happier if I gift him with Costco gift cards and cake.

And I don't know if he is really obsessive about much other than food and tv and I inherited that as well as the craftyness from my grandmother on my mom's side. My dad is pretty simple. As long as he can go on his walks, eat, watch tv and take naps...he's a pretty happy guy!

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Some may already know I am a completely indecisive person. Especially when left to my own devices trying to select fabric online! I've been in a stashing mood lately and am winding down. I think I'm just going to buy a couple more hand-dyeds to kit up a couple more Mirabilias and call it a day...until my birthday that is. I did decide on a cut of fabric from Country Stitch for Stargazer and while looking around, I saw some that may work for Waiting for Ships. I'm looking for something water-like...so blue-ish/green-ish and not too bright. Why Nora recommends some drab olive/taupe color, I'll never understand. Mermaids have no business on a land color fabric! Here is what WFS looks like. Strangely, this is the only mermaid Mirabilia I have.Now the choices:

Country Stitch Lagoon

Country Stitch Taupo (on linen scan)

Country Stitch Wintergreen

Polstitches Stormy Seas

So all the colors are pretty similar with the exception of Stormy Seas. I don't think the Polstitches would be a good fit what with the yellow but I think it's a beautiful hand-dyed!! I've opened up a poll in the sidebar. Please vote and help me decide! If you don't think any are a good option, please comment and tell me so. If you have recommendations other than those listed, don't be shy either. I think I'll leave the poll up through the weekend.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

So it's time to get back on track and move on. Back to the single life and I slipped into it quietly today. A friend of mine met up with me this morning and we walked to a local place for a scrumptious breakfast. She was kind enough to let me do my neighborhood errands like dropping off a book at the library and scoring strawberries from the farmers market before heading out to what we had really planned to do. We headed over to the art and wine festival a couple of towns over from me. We both had never been before and we came to the realization that we hadn't missed anything all this time. It was a huge dud! It was more fair than street festival so I'm sure it was a big hit with families and kids. But for a couple of single people wanting to see some art...uh, not so much! But that's okay. I got out, got some sun and tried to work the smile. I don't think my smiling muscles are quite up to the workout just yet.

I've got a good amount of things going on this coming week which should leave me duly preoccupied and distracted. Distractions are good!

The past month has not been kind as mentioned in my previous post. And when I'm sad or angry, there is no stitching to be had. It's hard to stitch when you'd rather beat someone with your project versus actually stitching with it. It was much safer tucked away in it's project bag. But I managed a few stitches here and there.

Here's where Letter C stands as of early this afternoon. I've managed to stitch quite a bit since but it's too dark for a photo now. I decided to get the boring part out of the way and I've been stitching on the background since the last time I showed you all Letter C.I have to get cracking. I need to finish this by the end of the month so I can send this and another item to Jill for framing. Letter C has to be in my niece's hot little hands by mid-August for her birthday.

I've been doing a lot of reading. Well...a lot by my standards. And I read because when your own life is a tragic mess, it's nice to escape to the life of the main character in any book. I read:

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber - It's about yarn...and knitting. How can that be bad?! It was an enjoyable read and a continuation for me since I had read "The Shop on Blossom Street" a number of years ago when I a was more crazed about knitting than cross stitching. I think the stories intertwined nicely between the 4 main characters and would recommend it for anyone looking for a light read.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - So when this book first came out...I thought it was a self-help book just based on the title. How wrong was I?! A friend recommended I read it and so I put my name on the list at the local library. When I started this book...I could not put it down! I think I managed to read the 400+ page book in under 3 days...which is fast for me. It was entralling and interesting and opened my eyes to what life would have been like back in the South in the 1960's and the relationship between well off white women and the colored help that catered to them. Excellent book!

Rainwater by Sandra Brown - I read this book for a book club meeting being held at the local library next week. I figured, if I liked the book, maybe I would go to the meeting and see what that was all about. I was surprised they picked a Sandra Brown book because isn't she really a romance novelist? Anyways, even though there was some romance, it was more about Depression Era Texas and how people hurt each other in their effort to survive or gain more power in a time when people had very little. It was another non-stop read for me.

I'm debating what book to read next...The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society, Water for Elephants or My Life in France (Julia Child). Any thoughts?

Everything else is pretty status quo. I did find out that I will have to furlough 10 days at work in the coming fiscal year. Not what anyone wants to hear but I'm also not surprised by it. I don't feel badly about it since I know that things could be worse and I'm lucky to have a job. There are rockier times down the turnpike with lots of talk of consolidation. I guess only time will tell.

That's it for me today. I think I'll be back with a poll soon...once I figure out how you do that!

Thanks for all the supportive comments in my last post and for sticking with me in my absence.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

As of 11pm tonight, I'm back to being a single girl. I didn't think I would feel happy to be single at the end of all this but I am...and extremely relieved. The last month has been a roller coaster ride of sadness, anger, disbelief and in the end, a lot of hurt and pain. I won't go into too much detail but it involved a massive amount of crying...and a massive amount of anger. I don't think I've been so angry and disappointed in another person in my whole life. *The boy* who is now just another ex got himself so sick that he ended up passing out in the street and being sent to the hospital. There he stayed for nine days.

What makes me upset is that his mother was supposed to book his ticket and the day he was set to leave, he discovers his flight was booked out of the wrong airport. Who does that!? Bad enough to book it wrong but then to not double check that the person booking actually did it right? That was bad enough! I had booked my vacation for the same week he was leaving. He'd be gone on a Monday and the next 7 days were to be mine...to regroup, pick myself up and do a few fun things for myself. But...no...he was stuck here and I had to deal with him. Then two days later, he was in the hospital. Haven't I done this already? WTF?! So he was *really* sick. It was all avoidable and preventable which made me angrier and I felt like I just couldn't deal with it. It seemed worse than a broken leg and I called his mother to tell her how sick he was and could you believe that she wouldn't come out?! Or send someone?! So guess who had to deal with it all? Yea...me. The ex-girlfriend trying to get her loafer ex-boyfriend the hell out of her place. I have never wanted to tell off a 70-year old off before that day...I still do...but that's fading. I will still send her an email on my feelings but I promise not to curse at her. I was raised better...respect your elders and all that stuff.

And during the hospital stay, the lies and betrayal came to the surface. So not only am I sad and uber-angry, I find I was used, taken advantage of, lied to and discovered things were used or taken without permission. It is all so unforgiveable.

A ruined vacation, a broken heart and a red mood that will not quit.

I put up with a bad situation all because of hope and now I realize I should have let go a good year ago and given myself the restart then. Then, I was scared of being single but I'll embrace that now. Being single is a lot easier than dealing with the bs I've put up with in the duration of this relationship. It gets lonely sometimes being single but that's easier to deal with than regret and always ranking last.

Because of all this, he leaves two weeks later than planned and not only did it F up my vacation, it messed with plans I had with other people.

It did put a couple of things into perspective. I am always happiest when doing the things I love and I should never be with someone who won't take the time to do things I like even if they don't totally like it. It changes me and I become a shell of who I really am. Also, as much as I complain about my old folks and they drive me nuts, I know they love me and I love them. And I know that if anything terrible happened in which I would have to be hospitalized, my 80 year old crippled, seemingly always sick mother would find her way to me and never, ever leave my side. She would pray over me with her rosary and her million Santa Marias willing me to get better. And if she couldn't, she would send someone and she'd make sure that person got there and they gave constant reports on my progress. And I know that with every fiber of my being. His family left him to rot in a hospital 3,000 miles away. And being the good Catholic girl I was raised to be, I made daily visits despite the hurt and sadness and betrayal...because my mom taught me compassion and good manners. That's not to say I didn't spend my visits bereting him and hating his family with every fiber of my being. Because...they lied to me too and put me in a very bad position. And for all that, they can take a flying leap. I regret every minute I spent stitching gifts for them and that may make me seem like an indian giver but they are truly undeserving...of my time, effort and kindness. You don't leave family cast aside when they need you the most...you just don't!

Now it's time to focus on me. Get back to stitching, catch up with old friends, meet new people, discover a new fitness regime, go to all the summer things I love, learn how to smile again and laugh and find myself again. I can only hope that the last half of 2010 is better than the last year and a half.

If you've stuck with me through all this, I thank you more than you even know. I really appreciate the time taken to comment on my last post and even more the folks who sent me personal emails. You know who you are. It means so much to receive an email that just says "how are you doing...I'm thinking about you". It made me feel less alone and made things a little more bearable.

I promise the next post will be more upbeat! I've done no stitching (ok, a teeny tiny bit) but lots of reading. I'll come back and tell you about that soon.